Dobbs Management Service LLC, a family-run private equity firm, is expanding its Memphis offices by taking almost 7,500 square feet on the top floor of Triad Centre III.

The company was leasing 5,765 square feet elsewhere in East Memphis. Company president Edward Dobbs says the addition of five companies to its portfolio as well as 20 percent growth in assets under management sparked the need for expansion.

“Our current space was not large enough to accommodate our recent growth,” Dobbs says. “We intend on expanding further over the next several years and needed space to accommodate that expansion.”

Dobbs had seen Triad Centre III often because it is near Dobbs Management Service’s current offices at 1000 Ridgeway Loop.

“Since the space has never been occupied, we could start from scratch and build our office exactly as we want,” Dobbs says.

Overall, the companies in Dobbs Management Service’s portfolio have more than 2,000 employees.

Edward Dobbs’ grandfather, James K. Dobbs, started the business in 1921 with a single Ford dealership in Memphis.

From there he expanded to manage more than 50 dealerships for Ford Motor Co. from Hawaii to Puerto Rico. He later started Dobbs House International, a company which became the largest private airline catering and airport newsstand operator in the U.S. He also operated 50 Dobbs House restaurants.

Edward Dobbs’ father, John Hull Dobbs Sr., continued the legacy with his nephews, John C. Dobbs and Jimmy Dobbs, by becoming one of the largest retailers of automobiles in the U.S., owning about 30 dealerships at one point.

“The firm needed to expand into space that reflected the new generation leading the firm,” Conrad says. “The principals really liked that the space provided 10 offices on glass, plus two conference rooms – unique for a space of this size.”

Built in 2009, Triad Centre III is a seven-story, 148,810-square-foot Class A office building at 6070 Poplar Ave. It is Memphis’ first LEED-certified multi-tenant office building and is currently 81 percent occupied following recent expansions by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. and Apperson Crump PLC.

“We’ve seen a lot of activity this year, a much greater pace to date than last year, not only in a couple of buildings, but portfolio-wide from Southwind to the Poplar corridor,” John Mercer, director of leasing with Highwoods Properties Inc., says. “You go up and down the list of our buildings and it’s been great activity this year.”